Open Spaces
by MadeOfStars
Summary: Sometimes we need to get into the open spaces to think. Post-ep one-shot for Stan By Me.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own nor can make any money off the In Plain Sight characters or this story. Pity.

**Spoilers:** Through Stan By Me and the previews for the season 1 finale.

**A/N:** This one-shot is my post-ep scene immediately following Stan By Me. Enjoy!!

Marshall stole a glance at her as the elevator doors slowly slid shut. She was staring blankly ahead, silent, arms wrapped around herself. She was lost in thought as the day drew to a close, finally able to be still long enough for the events to sink in. Glancing back a second later, he began to think that perhaps she was just lost. He fought the urgency to speak, to do something to make this better, and kept his tongue.

She broke the silence first, sighing as the elevator sank to the bottom floor and opened its doors. She started to speak, paused, and fell silent again. She turned her head toward him and quickly looked away again as she exited the car. He noted that her eyes were slightly wild, seeing shock, fear, and something else, something indefinable there. He wondered what she saw in his, if she could recognize his relief, his concern, his compassion. He guessed not; now was not the time, and she was not used to reading the emotions of others anyway.

She took three steps into the lobby of the Federal building before she abruptly stopped and turned to face him. "Uh, where's my car?" she asked, the thought just occurring to her.

"Impounded as evidence", he replied gently. "I made APD promise to take good care if it." He paused. "I'll drive you home. We can get it tomorrow."

She nodded, agreeing, and let her gaze unfocus again.

Most of the car ride passed in heavy silence, with Mary staring and Marshall waiting for the invitation into her thoughts. Three turns short of their destination, Mary disturbed the stillness by asking not to go home after all.

"I just can't", she said. "Not right now." She looked over at him, eyes almost pleading, and looked away again when she saw him nod.

She didn't specify any place else to go, so he took it upon himself to find someplace lonely and quiet. He drove out to the edge of the Sandia Foothills Open Space and stopped there. He noticed her smile when she recognized where they were headed and took this as a good sign.

"Mar…" he started tentatively.

"No, Marshall, don't…." She shook her head and looked down at the floorboards. She sighed, starting again. "It's just… I don't…"

She paused again, gathering her thoughts and her courage. She looked at him from the corner of her eye and took a deep breath. "He let you look at the file, didn't he?"

Marshall almost laughed at this. He was there when she gave her statement to Bobby D. Kidnapped, almost raped, almost killed, and she was worried about some file on her family? But then he realized what this meant to her. This exposed her in a way that none of the rest of it did. This opened up her family secrets to him (and everyone else that got a look) and this vulnerability frightened her.

"Don't worry about the file. It doesn't matter." He turned in his seat to get a better look at her but she had already moved away, facing out toward the starry night.

"It's always been like this, one mess after another." She muttered, half under her breath, mostly to herself. "Always something, Brandi, my mom, my dad. I don't know what to do."

Marshall let the silence linger a moment before responding. "Yeah you do. The conflict isn't knowing what to do, but the difference between what you are supposed to do as a Marshal and what might fix things for Brandi."

Her head snapped around as she glared at him. "But what do I know…" he backpedaled, hands raised, a slight smile gracing his face.

Her expression softened as she shook her head. "This went so much farther, though, so much farther. What I had to do…" Her voice drifted into a pained silence, matched by an expression of remembered horror.

"I know", he replied. He reached out to her, resting his hand lightly on her shoulder. She twitched, glancing over at him, then took her and into her own. They stayed in this stillness, windows down to the night, stars so far above, immersed in weight of this day until Mary took a deep breath, exhaling forcefully.

"Ok, enough of this" she said, disentangling herself from Marshall and smacking her hands onto her thighs. "Gotta get it together before I have to see the I.A. shrink."

"Did you know that the term 'headshrinker', from which 'shrink' is derived, was first noted in 1962, though the practice of psychotherapy actually dates back to the 9th century?" Marshall relaxed a little, getting back into their normal rhythm despite the fact that things were far from normal. He turned the key in the ignition and felt the engine roar to life.

"God, Marshall. Only you would know this kind of useless crap…" she scoffed, quietly comforted by their routine. Things wouldn't be the same, she knew, but they might not be so different after all.

**A/N 2:** All right... First time poster here requesting any and all concrit you wish to offer... I hope I was able to remain in character and set a good pace/emotional tone. Thanks for reading!!


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